Wednesday, June 14, 2017

I am a Filipino working overseas, if you think working abroad and away from my family gives me an unparalleled amount of freedom. Well, I ask you to do yourself a favor and think again. Simply because I have no parents or wife expecting me to come home doesn’t necessarily mean I can now do whatever I want in this place and time. The absence here of overlapping laws and regulations, mostly prevalent in the Philippines, doesn’t constitute a ticket to do what is not prohibited. With great freedom comes great responsibility and being an OFW, this same freedom is what keeps us grounded, trustworthy and tied to our roots. Too bad sometimes, OFWS unwillingly fall as victims of their own good intentions. Some get abused, maltreated and subjected to a great deal of pressures and expectations and it’s all because of theliberty they have taken when they decided to work abroad for the welfare of the ones they loved.

When I went for vacation in the Philippines a couple of years ago, a neighbor approached me to ask some quite disturbing questions. His wife has left for Dubai a few months earlier and until that time he spoke to me, he had never got the chance to speak with her. The agency that flew her to Dubai to work as a domestic helper also has nothing much to say and he has already spent as much worrying about her. He told me that if ever I got to hear any news about her by whatever means, I should let him know. Fortunately, a couple of months later, he was able to talk to her and mirroring the sad fate of many other Filipino domestic helpers, she has fallen into the hands on an abusive and cold-hearted employer. Now she’s has back home and reunited with her family.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

It’s a day I wouldn’t necessarily remember the
most, but certainly a chapter in my life’s journey that I would forget the
least. It’s neither the jubilant day I was born nor the triumphant day that I
finished my degree. It’s the day I almost went to meet my maker but turned out
to be the moment I would witness something I have never believed in - a
miracle. It’s just a handful of seconds
essentially and irrelevant on its own, but I’d blatantly say it’s the longest and
most horrific split seconds that would forever haunt and remind me that life
doesn’t really belong to us. It’s a borrowed gift and before it’s too late –
make the most out of it.

That day was a year ago – morning rush-hour, I was
driving on the outer lane of a busy highway like a typical day, 90kph on the
meter, crooning to some random music playing on a local radio while sight still
largely focused on the road and occasionally looking at the rearview mirror to
see the cars from behind. Being a neophyte driver, I am mostly defensive so I
stay away from the highways as much as possible and the trouble careless and stupid
drivers could bring which is quite a ubiquity in Dubai. Halfway through my
destination, I heard a thundering sound from far behind and even before I could
confirm in the mirror what it was, a speeding van has slammed into my car,
hitting the back’s left corner. What happened next was reminiscent of those
action scenes from the Fast & Furious movies, as when goons chase the good
guys. The crash’s immense impact bumped me off my lane,
spinning the car four times while still accelerating and traversing to the
innermost lane. The car stopped within few centimeters away from the island
barrier fence; thanks to an astonishing instinct that came from nowhere, a thin
whisper in the air that told me pull the hand brake up. The story ended
abruptly, I was saved! It was nothing short of a perfectly executed movie scene
done in a single take, no director, no script and no special effects.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

It took me days to just even think of words to
start this blog - so, this prelude. Kanlungan begins to play in the background
to invoke a deeper sense of nostalgia.

Since I came home from abroad about a week ago to
this place where I was born and raised, I've been having this weird sad thought
emanating from no longer seeing the things that used to be part of my younger
self. Everything that surrounds me seems to have changed unrecognizably from
how they were while others have completely vanished from sight. More than the
fact that they're gone, what pains me is realizing I wasn’t there when those
inevitable moments had to change and unfold. I'd say I have missed a lot. Would
have been easier to bear a one quick deep stab to the heart, but not this long,
lingering, overpowering and sometimes haunting sentimentality.

Coming home from miles away is purposely to
rekindle with family, friends and all those familiar ties. The joy it brings
overwhelms the many nights and moments we're away and suddenly it feels things
just get back to the olden days. At the end of the day, that very first night
however, as you lie in bed looking straight to the white painted ceiling of the
room, trying to recall the last time you were in the exact situation, you smile
and you tell yourself nothing's really changed. But a couple more minutes
staring blankly at this unadorned ball of light, it sinks in and you realize
beyond the walls and its four coordinates, things could never be the same. The
people, the places and the period have outgrown our own capsuled idea of how
they look and where they stand. That peculiar picture frame is turning gray and
old but you still look at that moment as vividly and candidly as the day it was
taken.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Have you ever wondered how old time is? Have you ever asked yourself when time immemorial really got started? Has the existence and tangibility of time ever crossed your mind? Scientist believe the Earth is over 2 billion years old and the bible, further on this, states that God had created the world and the universe though it never mentions when. The concept of God and time is one and the same. You can't see them by your eyes but you can feel their presence. It's a blur like a rainbow to dog but is is as real and as tangible as the chair you are sitting in.

As another year folded up, sure you have devoted some time to reflect on how the past year has been. Proof of that would be the numerous blog entries where you tried to recall all the things, big and small that have made the last 365 days a banner or a bore. And almost everyone have their resolutions for things unsettled in the past year and revolutions for things to make better in the following year. Our assessment mostly centered on how we have done things our way and how much has been added or taken away from the lives that we have been building for the past years.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Lately I have been on a laughing spree, with cynical grin coagulating my prominent cheekbones. A masked man! A heart stabbed by my own scalpel. Behind the sweet smiles, the stubborn laughter and the unbending personal belief that I am above all else fine, the truth just hurts that I am actually losing, like towering limestone cliffs gnarled by his own height. There were people knocking at my door, but I was far away. They were inviting and yelling, but thought it’s just another fancy game. The door was closed and I have lost people that I have and I should have loved.

Between the walls, there’s a vulnerable heart and hearts that are hurting. Many hasty words and arrogant spiels were said to attenuate pride and smugness. It may seem it pleases me to hurt people who just want to take chance to love and get loved. It may looks like it, but it’s not. If only walls could talk, it would say that I have long been yearning for company, that I treasure people that comes my way and every night in my sleep I am wishing that I could bring back the moments that I have unjustly said goodbye and wishing not to have said it. If walls could talk, it would say that I wanted them more, that though I might have said I have never needed friends, I was lying then, big time, paradoxical.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

I’m not into blogging anymore due to the gravity of what my new work requires. But as they say, once a blogger, always a blogger. No matter what subsequent lives you live, time will come when you’ll just have to grab your thoughts and lay it along the cyber pavements for others to see and read. There would always be experiences in our lives that just don’t need to be kept to ourselves. Success stories are most of them, you got promoted in your job, your girlfriend said yes and your son graduated from school and the list goes on as endless and infinite.

But apart from these, horrible stories shouldn’t as well be kept in the closet. Not only that sharing the same could save other people from going through the same torment or prep them up for situations born to upset and consummate, simply expressing your disappointment over matters that deserve better treatment, in itself, is a step towards making the ringleaders of these horrible things aware that they are not doing any good.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

It’s another long weekend in
Dubai, normally during these times; I just stay in the house and cut off all
ties synonymous to bliss. If I am not drowning myself within the limitless
bounds of the cyber universe, I am sulking in one corner, feeling pathetic,
wondering how some people below my level are able to be happy and I’m not
despite my excesses. Oh well, when you come
to think of it though, they are not actually good excesses; my oversized brain, innate
talents, mounting pride, work experiences and finally, a bloated idea of myself. They
are too heavy they always let me down. I
bet not all would be interested to come close to this kind of guy, inferiority
is inevitable. Having known that, I shouldn’t be wondering at all. Until such
time I burst that bubble in my head, then this grim, forlorn and desolate room
is where I rightfully belong.

Friday, August 17, 2012

How is the road home for OFWs? Two words.It’s long and it’s expensive.

In two weeks, I am one again coming back to the place where everything got started, the laboratory that has kept my blueprint and the workshop that has molded me to be the character I am today. If you think this decision entails only temporarily leaving my job, buying a ticket and packing my baggage with tons of chocolates in between, you’re dead wrong. This vacation is almost two years in the making. And again, if you’re thinking my presence will alone well absolve my family's anticipation for not seeing me in years; I have some qualms about it. Truth is, they expect more than just seeing me and I am happy to deal with it.

You Say

2010 PEBA's Best

Such sweet and mushy, unfortunately, Lester Burnham is dead too late thus to believe that it should have been worth saving his dysfunctional family. To this very day, family still is the basic social institution, the more founded and solid it is, the better the society where it belongs. But what really makes a family? Honestly, I believe it is not flesh and blood that makes us fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, but the heart that endures and sacrifice no matter what distance comes between us. It is the unmoved willingness to share that profound, deeply felt importance of being cared for and caring for the rest of its members...

Judges' Comments:

There are a lot of good entries and blogs but I zeroed on Dubai Diaries because I like the overall feel of the blog. The lay-out is simple and clean. Though minimalist in design, the blog has an artful feel to it. One positive point is the white background (underneath the text), simple header, and no-fuss font used. His blog is like a diary that has light and easy-to-read entries. The blogger writes well and has a good command of the English language. His PEBA entry is insightful. Judge 2

The author emphasized in his essay that having a son or daughter (or any family member for that matter) in another country is not a family that's less with one person. Physical distance doesn't matter. He also also called for other solutions from the government and other institutions on how the OFWs can be helped like more affordable calls and more job opportunities in the country. -Judge 4

This entry works on so many levels. Setting aside grammar, I am impressed with the writer's choice of words - i.e. "My family is sonless in me." Hopefully ,the writer continues to practice writing and read more books so that the technical aspects of writing can be improved. Certainly, he has great potential.- Judge 6,

Head of the Judges I like the way the blog post entry was written matter-of-factly. Good write-ups. Engaging.- Judge 8